elinor wonders why

Speedy Swimming - The kids go to the local lake for a nice swim and discover that many animals can swim really fast. Elinor then notices something interesting -- ducks, along with other animals that swim, like frogs and turtles, have webbed feet. The three little scientists discover that webbed feet help these creatures get around easier in the water, which makes them swim faster. The kids are inspired by this discovery and use flippers to swim fast all over the lake! Strawberry Jam - It's Elinor's Dad's birthday and he's in great spirits, because they are doing his favorite thing - going camping. But, when Elinor and Olive plan the perfect camping breakfast, they realize they're out of strawberry jam, which he loves. What are they going to do?! The two kids set out to find some strawberries and learn how to tell which strawberries are ripe and ready to be eaten and which are not. The two girls then use the ripe strawberries to make the perfect birthday breakfast for Elinor's Dad.

A Change of Art - Elinor and her class are painting outdoors with the town's enthusiastic art teacher, Mr. Lion, when they run out of paint. A flabbergasted Mr. Lion apologizes, but soon the kids begin to experiment with natural items they find, and discover nature is full of colors you can use to paint: grass paints green and you can use strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries to paint your canvas. The kids happily finish their paintings, and when they're all done, Elinor proudly shows off her picture, which shows her true love of nature. The Litterbug - Elinor, Ari and Olive are in the park when they see Mrs. Hippo picking up litter and doing her best to keep Animal Town clean. The kids decide to help her, but when they finish, they realize that the park they just cleaned is full of litter again! That must mean Animal Town has a litterbug. After doing some investigating, the kids realize who the litterbug is -- it's Mrs. Hippo herself! It turns out that one of the bags she was using to collect trash had a hole in it, so she was dropping litter behind her everywhere they went.

The kids are out summer caroling with Senor Tapir, singing their brand new Sunny Summer Song to Animal Town residents. But, by the time they arrive at Mr. Dog's house, it's nighttime and they can't seem to get a word out because they are distracted by flutter-ing moths. After they learn the moths are attracted to Mr. Dog's porch light, they figure out an easy solution - just turn off the light! The kids learn that there are simple things we can do to lessen our impact on nature, and complete their Sunny Summer Song in the dark. The kids decide to give away the peaches they've picked from Elinor's peach tree to all their friends in Animal Town. Everyone loves their peaches, but soon their basket is emp-ty. They head to Farmer Bear's farm to get more, but when they get there, they discover that there is only one peach left on the tree! Is Animal Town out of peaches? After some observations, they learn that certain fruits only grow in certain seasons. The peaches might be gone, but they'll be back next summer, and now that it's almost fall, they can pick another fresh and juicy fruit for their friends -- apples!

Elinor is on a bit of a fish kick, so she's super happy when she comes across a new fish friend in the pond. Elinor names her friend Spotty and can't wait to show Olive and Ari, but after some time passes, she notices something peculiar about Spotty. She's grown legs! After some careful observation, the kids determine that Spotty is not a fish at all - she's a tadpole turning into a frog. Elinor couldn't be happier with her new frog friend, be-cause now she's on a frog kick. After Mr. Lion demonstrates a fun dance for the kids, he encourages them to come up with their own dance routine to express something that they think is special. Elinor, Ari and Olive see that the other kids are coming up with awesome dances, but can't think of what their dance should be about. When they observe some nearby cranes, they discov-er that even birds dance to communicate and express their feelings. Inspired, the kids do a dance that communicates to their friends what they learned and how happy they are to have discovered these amazing animals.

Butterfly Party - It's Olive's mom's birthday, and Olive wants to organize something really special for her: a garden party with REAL butterflies. But, how can they get butterflies to come to the party? The kids set off to observe butterflies and figure out that they like certain kinds of flowers, and not others. Ms. Mole offers to let them transplant some butterfly-friendly plants from her garden to Olive's, and it works! Before long, Olive's backyard is fluttering with butterflies, just in time for Olive's mom to enjoy her birthday party. More Than One Right Way - It's Halloween, and Elinor, Ari and Olive arrive in the classroom to discover Ms. Mole putting up pumpkin decorations. The enthusiastic kids want to help, so Ms. Mole suggests they make spiderweb decorations with yarn and glue. But, when each kid makes a different-looking spiderweb, they're not sure which one is the most like a real web. After observing different spiders in nature, the kids realize that different kinds of spiders make different kinds of webs, which means they were all right! They then head back into school to decorate the classroom and have a happy Halloween.